It is really too light duty to do much sheet metal above 20 gauge. The brake section is almost a joke. I occasionally use the shear for PC material and other plastics. The roll part is what I bought it for. That allows me to make cable drums for loudspeakers that are flown with motors.

There are two kinds of brakes, one is the press brake where a ram forces the metal into a die, the other folds the metal. The folding kind tends to deflect in use and the middle does not get as sharp a bend.

Wow, you are far ahead of me! I was just going to get a small hand operated brake from Harbor Freight. I don't have much room in my shop.

Woodward Fab says it cuts up to 3/16" steel sheet and 3/8" round bars. That's far more than I need for boxes. I need to make a support and base for it of course.

I'm only just getting started in sheet metal working. I decided that I didn't like the standard boxes or they were too expensive. This shear was about $100, whereas a good box is at least that much already.

The next tool that is handy is a bench punch Roper Whitney - Quality Sheet Metal Fabrication Equipment These allow you to punch a hole or nibble special shapes. A 3/8" punched hole allows you to use chassis punches for bigger holes. The punches often have a fine tip in the center so they will follow a center punch.

The good news is that the tools you are buying now will resell for what you paid for them when you move up or get tired of bloody fingers!

There are many used equipment dealers on the web who sell the big stuff. Right now it is cheap as the economy picks up prices will double or triple! The small stuff is rarely available for sale used. The rule of thumb is that if the tool fits in a pickup truck then when a shop closes the tool vanishes!

Harbor Freight is fine for first time tools, but an estate sale is better. Good tools only get sold when someone dies!

You should be able to do 16 gauge aluminum 5052 is the alloy you want. Look up aluminum distributors locally. They often will sell scraps that are fine for your needs. Around here for years the scrap sold for 85 cents per pound. That is 50 cents a square foot for 16 gauge!

The next tool that is handy is a bench punch Roper Whitney - Quality Sheet Metal Fabrication Equipment These allow you to punch a hole or nibble special shapes. A 3/8" punched hole allows you to use chassis punches for bigger holes. The punches often have a fine tip in the center so they will follow a center punch.

The good news is that the tools you are buying now will resell for what you paid for them when you move up or get tired of bloody fingers!

There are many used equipment dealers on the web who sell the big stuff. Right now it is cheap as the economy picks up prices will double or triple! The small stuff is rarely available for sale used. The rule of thumb is that if the tool fits in a pickup truck then when a shop closes the tool vanishes!

Harbor Freight is fine for first time tools, but an estate sale is better. Good tools only get sold when someone dies!

Thanks for your enthusiasm and encouragement. Can't I use the drill press for most round holes? I used to have a set of Green Lee punches but they got sold. I was thinking of getting a few of those. I need to make 1" holes for XLR connectors. All the other holes that I'd need to make that I can think of off the top of my head are much smaller.

I can see the utility of this heavy duty punch for make square or rectangular holes though. Those are a pain to do by hand. Mine never come out square...

You should be able to do 16 gauge aluminum 5052 is the alloy you want. Look up aluminum distributors locally. They often will sell scraps that are fine for your needs. Around here for years the scrap sold for 85 cents per pound. That is 50 cents a square foot for 16 gauge!

Yeah, the Woodward Fab brake I'm looking at does 16 gauge aluminum. Thanks for the tips! much appreciated!

It looks like I won't be able to bend these small sheets of 16 gauge steel that I bought... sigh...

Thanks for your enthusiasm and encouragement. Can't I use the drill press for most round holes? I used to have a set of Green Lee punches but they got sold. I was thinking of getting a few of those. I need to make 1" holes for XLR connectors. All the other holes that I'd need to make that I can think of off the top of my head are much smaller.

I can see the utility of this heavy duty punch for make square or rectangular holes though. Those are a pain to do by hand. Mine never come out square...

A drill press is fine, but always wear gloves so when the metal binds and spins you don't get cut. 15/16" is the right punch size for Neutrik XLR's. You can get a stepped drill to fit and it is cheaper than a punch! Just be sure to drill steel at 125 surface feet per minute. (circumference x RPM gives surface inches per minute.) That would be 500 RPM for 15/16" holes. Also use a lubricant. The specially made ones such as Tap Magic work so well it is scary.

The hard part for XLR's is the mounting hole locations. When I did this by hand I made a brass template.

A drill press is fine, but always wear gloves so when the metal binds and spins you don't get cut. 15/16" is the right punch size for Neutrik XLR's. You can get a stepped drill to fit and it is cheaper than a punch! Just be sure to drill steel at 125 surface feet per minute. (circumference x RPM gives surface inches per minute.) That would be 500 RPM for 15/16" holes. Also use a lubricant. The specially made ones such as Tap Magic work so well it is scary.

The hard part for XLR's is the mounting hole locations. When I did this by hand I made a brass template.

Oh! so the rating on sheet gauge for the brake is for the entire bed length? I didn't know that. I thought I was going to have to use just aluminum for everything because the brake for 16 gauge steel is so huge and expensive. Steel gives magnetic shielding whereas aluminum does not. I also bought some self stick Ultraperm 80, which is like mu metal. I'm using Jensen audio transformers in my stuff so I need the magnetic shielding.

I've looked into stepped drill bits. I will probably get one of those instead of a Green Lee punch. Thanks for the tip on cutting oil. I've just been using other oils for now.